About Vuldrani HeartsongVuldrani Heartsong Female Gnome, Court Bard (1)
Special Capacities:
Obsessive: +2 Craft (painting). Gnome Magic: Gnomes add +1 to the DC of any saving throws against illusion spells that they cast. Gnomes with Charisma scores of 11 or higher also gain the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation, and speak with animals. The caster level for these effects is equal to the gnome’s level. The DC for these spells is equal to 10 + the spell’s level + the gnome’s Charisma modifier. Illusion Resistance: Gnomes gain a +2 racial saving throw bonus against illusion spells and effects. Keen Senses: Gnomes receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks. Sound Mimicry: Gnomes with this racial trait are skilled at imitating sounds and voices. Doing so requires a Bluff check opposed by the listener’s Sense Motive check, and the gnome gains a +4 racial bonus on Bluff checks to mimic sounds (including accents and speech patterns) she has listened to for at least 10 minutes. Listeners unfamiliar with a particular sound take a –4 penalty on the Sense Motive check. Gift of Tongues: Gnomes love languages and learning about those they meet. Gnomes with this racial trait gain a +1 bonus on Bluff and Diplomacy checks, and they learn one additional language every time they put a rank in the Linguistics skill. Low-Light Vision: Gnomes can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light. Bardic Knowledge: A bard adds half his class level (minimum 1) to all Knowledge skill checks and may make all Knowledge skill checks untrained. Cantrips: Bards learn a number of cantrips, or 0-level spells, as noted on Table: Bard Spells Known under “Spells Known.” These spells are cast like any other spell, but they do not consume any slots and may be used again. -------------
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Ranged:
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Starting Money: 105 GP
Other possessions: Courtesan's Outfit, Flint and Steel, Masterwork Paints, Journal (portfolio), Spell component pouch, Ink (vial), Inkpen, Torch (2), Scrolls, Waterskin, Soap, Spellbook (travelling) Spare Money:
Encumbrance:
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Feats:
Skills: 8 (Base 6 +1 Int+ 1 Favored Class)
Background skills:
Traits: Rising Star:All too often, great minds must suffer for their art, but you’re one of the lucky ones. Your skills attracted the attention of a noble patron who pays for your food, housing, and tools. As your patron introduces you to other cultural elites, you’re slowly learning to navigate the treacherous waters of high society, but you still remember the lean times when each meal was a hard-won treasure. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Sense Motive and Survival checks, as well as checks using Craft (painting). Survival is always a class skill for you. Once each day, you can invoke your patron’s reputation or name one of your own prominent works to gain a +2 circumstance bonus on a single Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate check. You begin the game with a masterwork musical instrument or tool appropriate to the Craft or Perform skill you selected, a gift from your patron. Naturally Gifted: For unknown reasons, you have deeper reserves of magical energy than those around you. Perhaps you are descended from a family of powerful arcane casters, or maybe you believe this trait marks you as destined for magical greatness. Wherever the truth lies, you gain an additional use of one of your gnome magic spell-like abilities each day. This does not always have to be the same spell-like ability—one day you might use dancing lights twice, only to use the additional casting for speak with animals the next day. Languages (5): Common, Gnome, Sylvan, Elven, Dwarven ----------
Level 1:
Distraction (Su): At 1st level, a bard can use his performance to counter magic effects that depend on sight. Each round of the Distraction, he makes a Perform (act, comedy, dance, or oratory) skill check. Any creature within 30 feet of the bard (including the bard himself) that is affected by an illusion (pattern) or illusion (figment) magical attack may use the bard’s Perform check result in place of its saving throw if, after the saving throw is rolled, the Perform check result proves to be higher. If a creature within range of the Distraction is already under the effect of a non-instantaneous illusion (pattern) or illusion (figment) magical attack, it gains another saving throw against the effect each round it sees the Distraction, but it must use the bard’s Perform check result for the save. Distraction does not work on effects that don’t allow saves. Distraction relies on visual components. Fascinate (Su): At 1st level, a bard can use his performance to cause one or more creatures to become fascinated with him. Each creature to be fascinated must be within 90 feet, able to see and hear the bard, and capable of paying attention to him. The bard must also be able to see the creatures affected. The Distraction of a nearby combat or other dangers prevents the ability from working. For every three levels a bard has attained beyond 1st, he can target one additional creature with this ability. Each creature within range receives a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the bard’s level + the bard’s Cha modifier) to negate the effect. If a creature’s saving throw succeeds, the bard cannot attempt to fascinate that creature again for 24 hours. If its saving throw fails, the creature sits quietly and observes the performance for as long as the bard continues to maintain it. While fascinated, a target takes a –4 penalty on skill checks made as reactions, such as Perception checks. Any potential threat to the target allows the target to make a new saving throw against the effect. Any obvious threat, such as someone drawing a weapon, casting a spell, or aiming a weapon at the target, automatically breaks the effect. Fascinate is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting ability. Fascinate relies on audible and visual components in order to function. Satire (Su): A court bard can use performance to undermine the confidence of enemies who hear it, causing them to take a –1 penalty on attack and damage rolls (minimum 1) and a –1 penalty on saves against fear and charm effects as long as the bard continues performing. This penalty increases by –1 at 5th level and every six levels thereafter. Satire is a language-dependent, mind-affecting ability that uses audible components. ----------
Prepared Spells:
1: (DC 14)
Backstory:
Adopted by her uncle when she was just a baby after both of her parents died while adventuring, Vuldrani has lived in Oppara all her life. A skilled pianist, Asurren Heartsong frequently gave private recitals to Oppara's elite, and gave his niece a thorough education in fine arts, teaching her how to draw, play music, and behave when dealing with nobility.
Treated as something of a child prodigy amongst Oppara's intellectuals, Vuldrani struggled to maintain her fame when she reached adulthood. While she had always considered painting to be her true artistic calling, it did not pay as well or gather the same attention as the concerts she gave in her youth, and with more experience came the crushing realisation that, after years of putting painting on the backburner, she simply was not as good as the artists plebiscited by powerful patrons. Improving her skill with a brush was a long and painstaking process, during which her uncle had to work extra hard to financially support the both of them. In a terrible twist of fate, just as Vuldrani started to sell her paintings, her uncle's health began to decline. To her horror, she had to watch as he succumbed to the Bleaching little by little, eventually losing all will or skill to play the piano. In less than a year, he was dead, leaving Vuldrani with meagre savings, a house too big for her and bills she could only pay thanks to her uncle's inheritance. The past two decades have been a miserable game of keeping up apparences while living hand-to-mouth, until her paintings miraculously attracted the attention of a wealthy noble who offered to become her patron. With no choice in the matter, Vuldrani was forced to accept, though she loathes the idea that someone could hold that much power over her. Personality and Appearance:
An elegant woman, Vuldrani prefers to dress in silken, soft-coloured dresses that compliment her pink hair and ruby skin well. She dislikes getting her hands dirty, and prefers armours and weapons that are either aesthetically pleasy or easy to dissimulate beneath her clothes. Unused to coarse environments, she always wear soft-scented, floral fragrances and styles her hair in Taldane fashion rather than with extravagant gnome hairpieces.
Taught to hide her emotions well from those who would use them, Vuldrani maintains grace and poise at all times. Her movements are carefully controlled, and while her face is fairly expressive, even the glint of amusement of her eyes never exactly betrays what she finds funny. The death of her closest relative and the velvety cruelty of the court has left her cynical, disillusioned about her future as an artist and her place in the world. Her sense of humour is bitter, and in spite of moving in the same circles as nobility, she holds no empathy for them. Instead, out-of-their-depth newcomers often attract her sympathy, and she has been known to discreetly help them survive the pool of sharks in which they were unwittingly thrown – even to the detriment of her own reputation. |
